Just had a quote for a traditional business telephone line or system and you’re recovering from the shock? For many company owners, it’s a surprise to find that so many telecoms providers still charge the rates they do even after the appearance of a new, cheaper, and more operationally flexible alterative – VOIP.
VOIP allows your business to benefit from all of the advantages that installing an expensive office telephone exchange would bring – and a lot more. And your business can experience those benefits from just £2.00 per month.
But what is VOIP? Which are Britain’s best VOIP providers? And what are the best VOIP services and features on the market at the moment?
To help you find the best VOIP provider offering the most advantageous and cost-effective service for your business, we include in this article:
- a table of Britain’s leading business VOIP providers showing minimum and maximum fixed charges,
- the benefits of choosing VOIP for your business,
- our top 12 tips in choosing a VOIP supplier,
- the different types of VOIP service,
- VOIP explained for beginners,
- how VOIP suppliers charge customers,
- services and features you can expect on a VOIP system,
- a short biography on each of Britain’s leading VOIP providers, their tariffs, and their charges,
- VOIP security tips, and
- frequently asked questions about VOIP.
If you want to speak with a VOIP expert to find your company the 3-4 most competitive quotes on the market at this time, please leave us your details using the form at the top of the page. Our service is free and there’s no obligation on you to take up any offer we present to you.
Best VOIP service UK – Britain’s leading business providers
We’ve compared the services and tariffs offered by 29 of the UK’s leading VOIP providers. Please see our table below ordered from the cheapest to the most expensive basic monthly tariff (where known).
Provider name | Product name | Least expensive pm | Most expensive pm | No. packages | Free trial |
Acefone | Hosted VoIP | £4.99 | £12.99 | 3 | Yes – 10 days (Offer: 30 days free) |
Alpha Telecom | Business VoIP | £7.50 | £16.00 | 3 | No |
bOnline | VoIP Talk | £5.00 | £16.00 | 3 | No |
CircleLoop | VoIP | £5.00 | £15.00 | 2 | Yes – 7 days |
RingCentral | Office | £7.99 | £24.99 | 4 | Yes – Ask for quote |
Voipfone | Office | £20.00 | £20.00 | 1 | 1 month of services (5 minutes of calls) |
Buzz Connect | Hosted VoIP | £4.95 | £9.95 | 4 | Yes – in the past – no current deal advertised |
Telappliant | VoIP Office Starter | £4.99 | £4.99 | 1 | 30 days |
SureVoIP | Hosted VoIP | £5.00 | £20.00 | 3 | 14 days |
Zendesk | Everyone | £39.00 per agent | £175.00 per agent | 5 | Yes |
Lily Comms | Hosted VoIP | Bespoke | Bespoke | Bespoke | No |
SoConnect | Hosted VoIP | £8.95 | £14.95 | 2 | 30 days |
Vonage | Business VoIP | £9.00 | £14.50 | 3 | No |
Focus Group | Cloud VoIP | £14.99 | £28.99 | 3 | No |
Gradwell | Wave | £10.00 | £18.00 | 3 | No |
BT | Cloud Voice | From £6.40 per user per month | From £6.40 per user per month | 1 | No |
Mitel | Business VoIP | £13.59 | £23.79 | 3 | No |
Sipgate | Team | £14.95 | £179.95 | 9 | 30 days |
Ooma | Office | £15.28 | £19.11 | 2 | No |
Dialpad | Talk | £16.00 | Bespoke | Ask for quote | Yes – 14 days |
8×8 | Express | £8 per month per user | £8 per month per user | 1 | 1 month |
Aircall | Solutions | £25.00 | £40.00 | 3 | Yes – 7 days |
Best 4 Business Communications | Cloud Telephone | From 33p a day | Ask for quote | Ask for quote | No |
4com | VoIP Phone Systems | Ask for quote | Ask for quote | Ask for quote | Ask for quote |
Berry Telecom | Cloud Phone | Ask for quote | Ask for quote | Ask for quote | No |
NFON | CloudYa | Pay as you go | Pay as you go | 1 | 30 days |
Teliqo | Direct | Bespoke | Bespoke | Bespoke | Yes |
Virgin Media | VOIP | Bespoke | Bespoke | Bespoke | Ask for quote |
Intermedia Unite | Office 365 VoIP | Ask for quote | Ask for quote | Ask for quote | No |
VoIP Studio | Call Center | £3.99 | £13.99 | 2 | 30 days |
Benefits of VOIP for your business
- Is your company expanding and outgrowing its current phone system?
- Do you want a phone system with more features?
- Or are you looking to bring costs down by investing in a new platform for your communications?
Whereas before you had one choice – a traditional landline-based private branch exchange (PBX) – you now have two. The second choice is Voice Over IP – an internet-based and -controlled voice and data communications platform.
Productivity-enhancing features
The ability to put calls on hold and transfer them to colleagues have been core add-on features to business phone systems for years.
For companies seeking additional functionality like private extension numbers and voicemails, additional premiums had to be paid every month by users of services like BT’s FeatureLine packages.
If you wanted full control over your voice communications (and to an extent, your data communications), a significant investment in a private branch exchange (PBX) was essential. The installation of a PBX is very disruptive and the maintenance of these large pieces of machinery is expensive.
As technically sophisticated as PBXs were at the time, they were ultimately limited in their ability to add further useful features (including those models which had the ability to update their firmware online).
VOIP is different. An analogy would be to think about your smartphone.
Your smartphone has an inbuilt set of features common to every users of that particular handset. The innovation and technological advances we’ve seen delivered by smartphones has come from their ability to download third-party apps and to integrate what they can do on your phone.
At an even deeper level of sophistication, apps can now interact with other apps to provide a more joined-up experience for users.
The same is true with VOIP. Apps are being added all the time to increase VOIP’s functionality and the value VOIP adds to business. We’ll list some of the growing number of features you can expect to be included for free and for an extra charge later in this article.
And, just as with smartphone apps, VOIP features, functions, and extra capabilities are added all the time without the need for additional hardware. It all happens automatically in the background.
Much better uptime and 99.9% as reliable as fixed lines
What held up much wider and quicker adoption of VOIP in previous years were concerns about the quality and reliability of the broadband connection on which the technology depends.
If your broadband connection failed or if the contention ratio on your line (the number of other companies sharing your connection) was too high, the ability of a company to use VOIP trouble-free was badly affected.
The PSTN copper wire network may be old however it is reliable and robust. In fact, reliability and robustness are recognised qualities of the legacy telephone network. This dependability was the reason that, in the past, so many businesses decided that the potential cost of disruption might be higher than the amount of money their business would save by switching to VOIP.
How did the industry overcome this?
VOIP suppliers now provide their business clients with temporary alternatives allowing the technology to function well even when there are intermittent connection, speed, or quality issues with a broadband connection.
Many systems detect these issues automatically and perform the necessary re-routing work so quickly that staff and customers will not be aware that they are working on a back-up system.
The high quality broadband we have today together with VOIP’s clever back-up systems means that the technology is fast increasing both in popularity and in usage.
At time of writing, if you install a dedicated broadband line and operate your VOIP system over that, then there is very little difference between the two.
Cost reduction
Although there is a great deal of choice available for companies wishing to use traditional telephone and broadband connections, the monthly charges that these businesses have to pay are a lot greater because of the very high costs a telecoms provider has to pay for network access and to maintain and improve their considerable infrastructure.
Although VOIP providers also have infrastructure and access fees to pay for, what they pay to be able to provide you with a service is far less than legacy providers.
If you have an office of 25 staff, VOIP means that there is now no need to pay for a PBX, 25 telephone handsets, separate cabling, and for the cost of line rental and equipment rental.
The costs for VOIP are the cost of your internet connection, the monthly user charges (if applicable), and calling charges (often much cheaper than landline-based telecoms operators).
In addition, you can have more than one VOIP provider where there may be an advantage to be gained by using one supplier for one type of call and a different one for another. You can mix and match free call allowances and better call rates to different destinations.
Top 12 tips in choosing a VOIP supplier for your business
The top 12 things we would recommend you consider when choosing a VOIP supplier for your business are:
1. Price
There are hundreds of different VoIP providers competing to increase their market share. Some focus on providing services exclusively to business customers. Others cater for consumers. Many target both.
Their prices vary greatly from each other and the deals on offer depend on how you and your colleagues use your phone and for how long.
Work out how many minutes you use a month. Is it worth paying a set fee each month for, say, 10 hours of calls? Would it be less expensive for you to use a pay-as-you-go provider?
Thirty minutes of research will save you a lot of money on your calls.
2. Quality
Make sure you do full research on each of the VoIP providers you’re considering. Check their ratings from other business customers on review sites.
VOIP networks require continuing capital investment and are some providers able to suppress the prices they charge by holding back on making that investment in the latest technology? If the answer is “yes”, prepare yourself for plenty of dropped calls, poor sound quality, and problems with latency.
Be cautious of the providers which give the most away for the cheapest prices but don’t write them off either. Some are able to offer cheaper tariffs by buying minutes and bandwidth in bulk and others by running the leanest operations possible.
3. Do you get a free trial?
Some VoIP contracts are for 30 days rolling. If you don’t like it, you can take your business elsewhere. However, many want you to commit for a much longer time.
You might be better looking to sign up to a free trial first if one is on offer.
It’s reassuring to know that you can test a VoIP provider’s service prior to committing your company. During your time with them, ask yourself “Do their claims match the reality of being a customer? Is their system as simple as possible?”
4. Is it easy to use?
Some VOIP providers provide clients with cryptic instructions on how to use their services. For the vast majority of company owners not comfortably conversant or skilled in IT, that makes a system a real struggle to use.
With others, it’s easy. You download a program and press “install”. It then sets up everything for you and there’s no need to worry about extra configuration steps.
If you’re tech-aware, this might not be that important – you might enjoy tinkering with an API, for example. For everyone else, it’s the simpler, the better especially when, in the future, you find that things are not working quite as you want them to.
5. Choose a supplier for the features you’ll actually use
The flexibility and functionality that VOIP systems offer is much greater than you’d expect from either BT’s FeatureLine services (or a competitor’s equivalent) or from a standard PBX system.
While many of these additional services are included as part of the monthly subscription fee, some attract additional charges. In order to deliver the greatest savings from switching to VOIP, please only select the services you actually need.
6. Can you scale the level and number of services you take up and down?
VOIP allows your business the opportunity to connect each member of staff within whichever department wherever they are located quicker, easier, and more cheaply than ever before.
Businesses are, by their nature, fluid and prone to change. If you believe that your business’s size or operational needs will be subject to change in the coming months and years, ask your prospective suppliers how flexible they’ll be in allowing you to keep your service but to adjust the number of features you have at any given time within financial penalty or commitment.
7. Are your calls private?
Poor tech security is a very real threat to businesses – it’s of the utmost importance to keep your business and its data safe. VoIP may be a vulnerability.
Ask a potential VOIP provider if they support secure communications. If they don’t, someone on the same network or nearby could be able to eavesdrop on you. We cover VOIP security more later in this article.
8. Emergency services support
Most VOIP providers now support 999 services. But remember you still have to follow their procedure to enable it. If you choose one that doesn’t, you will still need a traditional phone or mobile as backup.
9. Clear billing information
If you choose a pay-as-you-go option, cost control is important. Check that your provider has a customer portal on which you can keep track of your current spending.
10. Customer support
Verify what support is available if your phone is out of order or your VOIP control panel is not working as it should. Many VOIP suppliers offer 24/7 support by phone and online webchat. Please make sure the level of support offered by a prospective supplier suits the communication and operational needs of your business.
11. Choice of phone number
You might be in Newcastle but want a Nantwich phone number. VoIP works over the internet and the internet is everywhere meaning that you can select a phone number somewhere different to your actual location.
12. Number porting
Is switching provider but keeping your existing dial-in numbers easy? Small or overseas operators might not have fully automated porting processes making the time required to switch over significantly longer and prone to human error.
If you can’t port your number but still want to keep it, you should either stay with your current provider or find one which supports porting.
Different types of VOIP service
There are two types of VOIP service:
- “hosted VOIP” or “managed VOIP” service or
- VOIP with your existing equipment
With hosted VOIP, you order additional phone handsets and other equipment from your supplier. Phones can cost between £100 and £500 however most providers offer a monthly rental service for their equipment (on top of the other fees you pay).
You don’t need to order extra equipment to run a VOIP system for your business though.
For very small businesses needing one or a handful of connections, you can convert your current analogue lines into VOIP lines with a VOIP adaptor. Alternatively, you can plug a VOIP-compatible handset into a router.
For larger businesses with a need for multiple connections, you’ll need internet-connected desktops or laptops loaded with the right software plus a good headset to ensure high quality sound and general call clarity.
You can add VOIP to your smartphone too – all you’ll need is your supplier’s app, a good Wi-Fi connection, and a VOIP account.
With either option, it’s essential that you have a stable, solid, and reliable internet connection. An effective way to check is to try a Skype or Google Voice VoIP conversation with a colleague in your office. If everything sounds crystal clear, your current set-up will likely support VOIP.
VOIP explained
What does VoIP stand for?
VOIP stands for Voice over Internet Protocol.
Ever since Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone, the technology has basically stayed the same. The telephone companies installed copper wires going to every home and business. The wires were just used for one thing – telephone calls. But then, along came the internet. These copper wires could now be used to transmit anything from email attachments, movies, and pictures as well as people’s voices.
How does VoIP work?
VoIP, as with all modern technology, operates successfully because of its compliance to a centrally-agreed and -adhered-to “standard”. Standards are contained in detailed technical documents which VOIP software and hardware companies use to ensure that their services work with each other.
VOIP not only digitises your voice and it provides the technical architecture required which gives VOIP its enhanced functionality.
Getting started with VoIP
There are 3 things you need to be able to make VoIP calls.
The first is the internet. Any internet account where your WiFi router connection is delivered over a cable will be fine (internet over wireless networks, like via your smartphone, should be avoided).
The second is something to speak to and listen to other people with – a phone handset. You can purchase specifically-made VoIP phones – they look like regular larger office desktop phones however usually with an advanced colour display above the keyboard. You can also use an adapter that converts your regular phone into a VoIP phone, as mentioned earlier. The choice is yours.
The last thing is an account with a VoIP provider. These are the companies which allow you connect you with everyone else in the world, whether that’s on another VoIP phone, cell phone, or landline, in any country.
Why are VoIP calls so cheap?
VoIP is delivered over the internet. The internet is a parallel worldwide network much of which is carried over the standard telephone network and, as a result, the technological infrastructure needed to route local, national, or international calls is different.
How VoIP uses the telephone network and the other networks it piggybacks on is much more efficient than the standard telephone network. Hence, it costs a lot less.
VOIP charges
Your VOIP bill will generally consist of four different types of charge – a fixed price per user per month (based on an agreed service level), phone number charges, call charges, and charges for services which are not included in the fixed price per user per month fee.
Price per user
Except with pay-as-you-go services, most VOIP companies charge you per user per month.
Be aware though that some VOIP providers require you to sign up to a minimum number of users per month. For example, Aircall’s Essentials Package (their basic package) charges €30 a month per user but there is a minimum user level of three meaning that the cheapest package on offer from that company will be €90 a month for your company.
Phone number
The reference to phone numbers you see on many VOIP provider’s website means the phone number that customers will be able to contact you on.
Many providers will include a free dial-in number with their account but they’ll charge an additional amount per month for each extra number. This may be an important consideration price-wise to you if you work in a business which requires many members of staff to have their own phone numbers.
You may be offered the choice of a local number including one based in a different area code – for example, if you run a business in Bath, you could choose an Edinburgh number if you have many customers there. You may, of course, select a local number to reflect the area code your premises are actually in.
Others will offer freephone numbers and vanity numbers (numbers which are extremely memorable) for an additional monthly premium.
Call charges
As with your standard telephone connection, you will be charged every time you make a call. The charge you pay will likely depend on how long the phone call lasts, the geographical destination of the call, and the time at which you made the call.
Most of the VOIP companies we compare in this article offer unlimited bundles (meaning that you can call a certain type of number as much as you like during the month) or restricted bundles (meaning that you might buy 1,000 minutes in advance of calls to UK landlines and mobiles, for example). Most restricted bundles do not allow month to month rollover on unused minutes like your personal mobile phone contract may allow.
Services charges
As mentioned earlier, your monthly fixed price per user will include some VOIP service features in the price. Other services will attract a charge which may be applied per user or per company and those charges will be payable once a month or once a year.
System features provided by VOIP phone systems
Many of the features listed below are included by providers as part of the monthly user or subscription fees while others are chargeable.
Not all features are available at each provider. Please be careful to make sure that you check a provider’s terms and conditions of supply or consult with a brokering service to make sure that any agreement you enter into supplies you with the required features at a transparent cost beforehand.
Your VOIP system and the way it behaves will be controllable via an app, via a desktop interface, via a phone call to customer services, or a combination of some or all of these.
This is not an exhaustive list of the types of features on offer – the number of features is increasingly all the time.
Extensions
Create an extension number for each member of staff so that they can call each other internally and so that they can transfer external calls in from customers direct to the desired member of staff or department.
Extensions can be modified, changed, or deleted internally via your VOIP system’s online control panel.
Voicemail
In addition to providing each extension with its own voicemail, VOIP technology offers a great deal more to its users. You may be able to:
- programme your system to send voicemails as an email attachment,
- transcribe voicemails and send you the transcription to your mobile or email
- listen into your voicemails via a specific number (with PIN entry), and
- manage voicemail via an app.
Continuity of call
Depending on the equipment you have connected to your VOIP system, you can move live calls between a softphone, a mobile phone, and a desk phone.
Call hunt
You can assign various different dial-in or extension numbers to you and your staff – for example, “Mark” might be available on a softphone, a desk phone, or a mobile phone.
With Call Hunt, all of those devices associated with a member of staff or a department ring when their dial-in or extension number is called. As soon as the call is answered, the other devices in the call hunt group will stop ringing.
Do not disturb
System users can set their status to Do Not Disturb, Invisible, or Available.
Cold call transfer
You can transfer a call to another extension or colleague while the caller is on the line.
Warm call transfer
Warm call transfers are similar to cold call transfers except that colleagues can speak with each other about the nature of a call in private before the call is actually transferred.
Call recording
All calls within a company (inbound, outbound, internal transfer, external transfer) are recorded by the extension number from which they are conducted. Calls can later be downloaded and reviewed from your VOIP platform’s management system.
Fax transmission and receipt
Most VOIP systems allow you to send and receive faxes which you receive as a PDF or image file sent to your mobile, your desktop, or an integrated application (more on that later in this piece).
SMS transmission and receipt
Many SMS systems also allow you to send and receive text messages from their app or from the handsets that you are renting from them.
Call screening
Call screening gives users the ability to allow calls from particular numbers, to stop calls from other numbers, and to direct selected callers direct to voicemail.
Intercom
Intercom gives you the ability to make an announcement to all colleagues across your company’s different offices via the network of desk phones.
Call forwarding and answering rules
VOIP can direct incoming calls to wherever you are or to the colleague you want to answer the call is.
For example, if you run a maintenance or facilities management company, you can forward calls out of hours to the relevant on-call member of staff. You might choose one inbound number for an on-call engineer with one area of expertise and another inbound number for a colleague with a different speciality.
Company and brand image
Often, a customer’s perception of the quality of your company is influenced by how well it handles telephone-based contact.
Most VOIP systems offer the ability to provide:
- music on hold to callers
- centrally-managed greetings management
- phone menus allowing clients to get through to their required department or member of staff
Conference calling (audio and video)
Colleagues and clients use set up conference in their own private virtual room – some services offer the ability to video conference call and to make online visual presentations to other participants.
Activity monitoring
Particularly useful for companies with outbound and inbound telemarketing teams, activity monitoring provides the information that you need to check that call time targets are being hit.
VOIP apps and web integrations
Like many of the programs and applications you use to run your business, VOIP is hosted online and it is accessible on smartphones, tablets, laptops, desktops, and other connected devices
Because of this, there are further productivity gains that clients can achieve by getting their apps and their VOIP system to work together.
When a business app and a VOIP system interact successfully, this is called an “integration”. Some of the more popular VOIP system integrations include:
- Zendesk VOIP integration
- Hubspot VOIP integration
- Pipedrive VOIP integration
- Intercom VOIP integration
- Slack VOIP integration
- Zoho VOIP integration
- G Suite VOIP integration
- Office 365/Outlook VOIP integration
- Netsuite VOIP integration
What are some practical examples of VOIP/app integration for your company?
If you operate a customer relationship management (CRM) system, your service team can call a client direct from their CRM app with a single click and record the conversation (which may then be automatically transcribed).
Your operative can then either :
- flag it up to a manager if a situation needs escalating or
- send to a sales rep if there is a revenue generation opportunity.
Every single interaction with clients is recorded and your VOIP system provides your CRM app with the data and information required for accurate and detailed recordkeeping. With Office 365 and Salesforce integration, even email messages and private interactions on social media and via your company’s app can be added to a customer’s record.
For both sales and customer services purposes, interaction with clients can be structured into a timeline. This timeline can then be used by a colleague on a live call to better understand a customer or it can be used to provide new and existing staff with training on how to sell or resolve a situation successfully.
Many VOIP providers also provide an API allowing you to perform a bespoke integration of the data outputted by your VOIP system directly into any custom-built applications (you will need to contract a programmer to do this at cost to your company if you do not have the skills in-house to do this internally).
Best VOIP suppliers in the UK – company and product notes
Not all of the VOIP suppliers we list in this article publish lists of their tariffs online. However, we have chosen to include them in this article because of their favourable reputation among customers and their ability to service companies across the whole of the UK.
If you are thinking about contacting one of the VOIP providers whose prices aren’t shown on their websites, please make sure you secure 2-3 quotes from other suppliers in advance. You can then present those quote to them for them to review as the presence of competition is highly likely to focus their sales reps’ mind on providing you with the deepest discounts and the best terms.
Acefone
Provider name | Product name | Least expensive | Most expensive | No. packages |
Acefone | Cloud Phone | £4.99 | £14.99 | 3 |
Free trial | Minimum contract | Annual payment discount % | Local numbers | Non-geo numbers |
Yes – 10 days (Offer: 30 days free) | Ask for quote | Ask for quote | Yes | Yes (freephone numbers) |
Based in Florida with a new British presence, Acefone has confidently entered the market with a feature-packed starter tariff for just £4.99 per month.
They state that their focus is on making communication easier for everyone through a user-friendly interface giving access to functionality businesses need in the online world. They offer around the clock-support and online real-time reporting on phone usage across your company via their web interface.
Click for more information – Acefone VOIP service.
Alpha Telecom
Provider name | Product name | Least expensive | Most expensive | No. packages |
Alpha Telecom | Cloud Phone | £7.50 | £16.00 | 3 |
Free trial | Minimum contract | Annual payment discount % | Local numbers | Non-geo numbers |
No | Variable (some contracts up to 7 years) | Ask for quote | Yes | Yes |
AlphaTalk have been in the business of providing telecommunications and data solutions to businesses for over 20 years now.
Their Alphatalk service starts from just £7.50 per month and contains a selection of useful conferencing, texting, video, and next generation calling features as well as virtual office service which provides you with a professional business address, mail handling & forwarding and more.
Click for more information – Alpha Telecom VOIP service.
4com VOIP service
Provider name | Product name | Least expensive | Most expensive | No. packages |
4com | VoIP Phone Systems | Ask for quote | Ask for quote | Ask for quote |
Free trial | Minimum contract | Annual payment discount % | Local numbers | Non-geo numbers |
Ask for quote | Ask for quote | Ask for quote | Ask for quote | Ask for quote |
Working with UK SMEs for over 20 years from its base in Bournemouth, 4com have no fixed or set prices for the VOIP systems they offer to clients.
After you contact them, they’ll get to know as much about your business and its communications needs as possible. They take into account how many calls you’re likely to make as well as the type of equipment that’s likely to deliver your business the greatest commercial and operational benefits.
The company is offering to fund the purchase and installation of a brand new phone system for customers if you take out a long enough contract with them. Even then, they are sure that they’ll still be able to offer you savings on what you’re paying now thanks to the discounts they can achieve on broadband costs, mobile handset and rental costs, landline rental, and outbound calls.
Click for more information – 4com VOIP service.
8×8 VOIP service
Provider name | Product name | Flat-rate tariff | No. packages | |
8×8 | Express | £8.00 per month per user | 1 for small businesses | |
Free trial | Minimum contract | Annual payment discount % | Local numbers | Non-geo numbers |
No | Ask for quote | No | Yes | Yes |
8×8’s mission is not just to improve business communications – they see their role first and foremost as developers of cloud-based devises and applications to improve customer experience, business performance, and team & individual productivity. Since their launch, they have amassed over 200 patents for the technology they’ve invented.
They have also recently won the following awards:
- Industry Leader in Unified Communications by Gartner Magic Quadrant
- Top Hosted VoIP Provider by Infonetics Research (for the last five years)
- Top 25 Best Small Companies on Forbes America’s Best Companies’ list
- CloudTrust Enterprise-Ready Ranking by Skyhigh Networks
8×8 provide specialist support to organisations in the following sectors – high tech, manufacturing, retail, recruitment, collections, insurance, legal, government, outsourcing, education, and transportation.
Its tariffs for small business have been simplified a lot in the last 12 months. Now, there is a simple £8 per month per user charge and the company claims that this tariff is around half the price of most of its competitors.
Click for more information – 8×8 VOIP service.
Aircall VOIP service
Provider name | Product name | Least expensive | Most expensive | No. packages |
Aircall | Solutions | £25.00 | £40.00 | 3 |
Free trial | Minimum contract | Annual payment discount % | Local numbers | Non-geo numbers |
Yes – 7 days | Ask for quote | No | Yes | Yes |
Founded in Paris in 2014 and now with over 200 employees, Aircall is a fast-growing business VOIP communications provider whose customers hold it in high regard for the cost effectiveness and usefulness of their services.
Aircall offer the second most expensive basic tariff of all the companies on our list which provide details of the pricing structures on their website. However, clients benefit from a free seven day trial upon request to try out the service.
Aircall offers one of the most expensive basic tariff of all the companies on our list which provide details of the pricing structures on their website. However, their prices have fallen since last year and clients benefit from a free seven day trial upon request to try out the service.
Click for more information – Aircall VOIP service.
Berry Telecom VOIP service
Provider name | Product name | Least expensive | Most expensive | No. packages |
Berry Telecom | Cloud Phone | Ask for quote | Ask for quote | Ask for quote |
Free trial | Minimum contract | Annual payment discount % | Local numbers | Non-geo numbers |
No | Variable (some contracts up to 7 years) | Ask for quote | Yes | Yes |
Scoring 4.3 on Google Reviews based upon the experiences of 118 customers, Berry Telecom currently supply over 8,000 VOIP and PSTN lines to British businesses. Their basic package offers music on-hold, voicemail to email, voicemail, paging group, pick up group, hunt group, ACD, and auto attendant.
Berry offers contracts of variable lengths to their clients and we have seen feedback from a (happy) customer who signed up for a minimum of 7 years. As with 4com, they don’t have a published or standard list of tariffs for the VOIP clients – you have to contact them for a quote.
Scoring 4.3 on Google Reviews based upon the experiences of 225 customers, Berry Telecom currently supply over 8,000 VOIP and PSTN lines to British businesses. Their basic package offers music on-hold, voicemail to email, voicemail, paging group, pick up group, hunt group, ACD, and auto attendant.
Click for more information – Berry Telecom VOIP service.
Best 4 Business Communications VOIP service
Provider name | Product name | Least expensive | Most expensive | No. packages |
Best 4 Business Communications | Cloud Telephone | From 33p a day | Ask for quote | Ask for quote |
Free trial | Minimum contract | Annual payment discount % | Local numbers | Non-geo numbers |
No | Ask for quote | Ask for quote | No | Yes |
Best 4 Business Communications offers one of the longest free trial periods of the suppliers featured in this article and they only require a minimum commitment to use their service of 12 months. However, with their least expensive offering being from 33p a day, theirs is the most expensive basic monthly tariff.
Over the previous few years, they have either won or been nominated for industry awards recognising the growth of the company, the quality of their customer service, the reliability of their cloud service, and the adaptability of their system for integration into clients’ vertical solutions.
Click for more information – Best 4 Business Communications VOIP service.
bOnline VOIP service
Provider name | Product name | Least expensive | Most expensive | No. packages |
bOnline | VoIP Talk | £9.00 | £16.00 | 3 |
Free trial | Minimum contract | Annual payment discount % | Local numbers | Non-geo numbers |
No | 12, 18, or 24 months | Initial 12 month discount | Yes | Ask for quote |
With a score of 4.6 from over 6,000 review on Trustpilot, bOnline works with 50,000 companies with the aim of supplying all communications needs to their customer database under one roof. Their wider offering extends to online marketing, website design, cloud services, and internet connectivity.
The company targets SMEs, start-ups, and mobile workers and it was rated as “the Best” Top5 VOIP Provider for UK businesses with 1-5 members of staff. Tariffs start from £5 a month (with a 12 month minimum contract) and include call forward, voicemail with email delivery, auto-receptionist with a dial-by-name directory, and the ability to connect multiple extensions. If you find a cheaper tariff while in contract with bOnline, they guarantee to match it.
Click for more information – bOnline VOIP service.
BT VOIP service
Provider name | Product name | From | No. packages | |
BT | Cloud Voice | £6.40 per user per month | 1 for 5-99 extensions | |
Free trial | Minimum contract | Annual payment discount % | Local numbers | Non-geo numbers |
No | 12-36 months | No | Yes | Yes |
BT is one of the world’s largest telecommunications companies and it offers 9 different VOIP packages to customers delivered over its PSTN and digital networks.
The core tariffs are BT Cloud Phone Basic, BT Cloud Phone Connect, and BT Cloud Phone Collaborate with minimum contract lengths of 12 months, 24 months, and 36 months.
The Basic Package provides 500 minutes’ inclusive landline talk time as well as conferencing, call recording, call queues, fax, voicemail, auto attendant, call logs, and hunt groups.
The Connect Package offers all the features of the Basic Package plus multi-level attendant, CRM integration, call monitoring, and call recording. Customers can choose from 500 UK minutes or (for a small premium) an option for unlimited UK calls a month.
The Collaboration Package adds to the Connect package with video meetings and web meetings.
In the table above is a new product from BT – Cloud Voice. This is a VoIP based phone system with a wide range of inclusive features including automatic call routing, call forwarding, call transfers, hunt groups, voicemail-to-email, and more.
Minimum contract terms are between 12 and 36 months and you’ll be more likely to receive greater discounts on line rental and on calls depending on how long you sign up.
Click for more information – BT Cloud Voice service.
Buzz Connect VOIP service
Provider name | Product name | Least expensive | Most expensive | No. packages |
Buzz Connect | Hosted VoIP | £4.95 | £9.95 | 4 |
Free trial | Minimum contract | Annual payment discount % | Local numbers | Non-geo numbers |
Yes – in the past – no current deal advertised | 12 months | No | Yes | Yes |
Buzz Connect offers VOIP services from as little as £4.95 per user on a 12 month minimum contract. Included within the basic tariff are caller ID, mobile diversion, hunt groups, call forwarding, call parking, call pickup, call transfer, extension numbers, music on hold and voicemail to emails. Calls cost as little as 0.9p per minute to landlines and 3.3p per minute to UK mobiles.
Buzz Connect are a Tier 1 supplier of both VOIP and standard telephone services and they state that, on average, their typical customer saves 40% on BT prices. Their VOIP system is continuously updated and improved and your company will benefit from these updates and improvements automatically.
Click for more information – Buzz Connect VOIP service.
CircleLoop VOIP service
Provider name | Product name | Least expensive | Most expensive | No. packages |
CircleLoop | VoIP | £5.00 | £15.00 | 2 |
Free trial | Minimum contract | Annual payment discount % | Local numbers | Non-geo numbers |
Yes – 7 days | None | No | Yes | Yes |
With a free trial lasting 7 days, two of the lowest tariffs on the market, and a rolling 30-day minimum contract, CircleLoop have grown quickly since its launch in 2016 to accumulate over 2,000 customers. Their entire system has been designed and programmed in-house meaning that it’s not reliant to third-party providers whose service and update schedule is beyond the control of the company.
International dial-in numbers are available for £5 per month, UK landline numbers £2 per month, and VIP numbers for £3 a month. You can port your existing number across to CircleLoop for just £20.
Click for more information – CircleLoop VOIP service.
Dialpad VOIP service
Provider name | Product name | Least expensive | Most expensive | No. packages |
Dialpad | Talk | £16.00 | Bespoke | Ask for quote |
Free trial | Minimum contract | Annual payment discount % | Local numbers | Non-geo numbers |
Yes – 14 days | Ask for quote | Ask for quote | Yes | Yes |
Dialpad’s team works to understand each business and their needs in-depth prior to the provision of service but, for peace of mind, they offer clients a 14-day free trial so that they can test the system, its functionality, and its robustness for themselves.
Their least expensive tariff is £16 a month however, when you contact them, expect them to come up with a unique tariff for your company.
Click for more information – Dialpad VOIP service.
Focus Group VOIP service
Provider name | Product name | Least expensive | Most expensive | No. packages |
Focus Group | Cloud VoIP | £14.99 | £28.99 | 3 |
Free trial | Minimum contract | Annual payment discount % | Local numbers | Non-geo numbers |
No | “Bespoke” | No | Yes | 0800/0333/0870/0845 |
Focus Group don’t offer a free trial to prospective new customers however their tariffs are competitively priced. They offer flexibility on the minimum length of time you’re contracted to them however they do offer free handsets to companies happy to sign up to a five year commitment.
Focus Group offers specialist services to organisations in the following sectors – healthcare, automotive, veterinary practice, recruitment, high street & online retail, leisure, sport, tourism, recruitment, healthcare services, hospitality, retail, education, and public sector.
Click for more information – Focus Group VOIP service.
Gradwell VOIP service
Provider name | Product name | Least expensive | Most expensive | No. packages |
Gradwell | Wave | £10.00 | £18.00 | 3 |
Free trial | Minimum contract | Annual payment discount % | Local numbers | Non-geo numbers |
No | 12 months | Ask for quote | Yes | Yes |
Trusted communications supplier to Zoopla, Anytime Fitness, Brompton, University of Bath, Index Ventures, and Bloom and Wild, Gradwell VOIP is going through a rapid period of growth and they now have thousands of active accounts among its core target audience of SMEs.
They require a 12 month commitment and following is their range of three tariffs:
- 100 landline or mobile minutes from £10 per user per month
- 1,000 landline or mobile minutes from £13 per user per month
- 3,000 landline or mobile minutes from £18 per user per month
Click for more information – Gradwell VOIP service.
Intermedia Unity VOIP service
Provider name | Product name | Least expensive | Most expensive | No. packages |
Intermedia Unite | Microsoft 365 VoIP | Ask for quote | Ask for quote | Unknown |
Free trial | Minimum contract | Annual payment discount % | Local numbers | Non-geo numbers |
No | Unknown | Unknown | Ask for quote | Ask for quote |
Intermedia Unity are one of the world’s largest VOIP and telecommunications providers for businesses – the software backbone of their system is Microsoft’s Office 365 suite.
They used to publish their monthly tariffs on their site – there were 5 of them the cheapest of which started at just £3.60 per month.
Now you have to ask for a quote – they are generally a very highly regarded company but make sure that you have other quotes to present them with if you contact them so you can get the price down.
Intermedia provide their services to 120,000 business customers around the world in collaboration with 6,500 technology partners.
Click for more information – Intermedia Unity VOIP service.
Lily Comms service
Provider name | Product name | Least expensive | Most expensive | No. packages |
Lily Comms | Hosted VoIP | Bespoke | Bespoke | Bespoke |
Free trial | Minimum contract | Annual payment discount % | Local numbers | Non-geo numbers |
No | 5 year contract standard | Ask for quote | Yes | Yes |
Lily Comms is one of the UK’s fastest growing suppliers of both standard phone systems and VOIP communications solutions to UK businesses.
Among the suppliers listed on this page, they tend to ask customers for the longest commitment – 5 years. However, bundled within the bespoke cost a client pays is a mixture of calling minutes, functionality and features, and hardware purchase and installation.
They also offer clients an opportunity to save money on other essential business costs including energy and mobile communications.
In previous years, they did display some of their rates online – in 2020, they had a £6.99 a month tariff – but now that information has been removed from their website and you have to call in for it.
Click for more information – Lily Comms VOIP service.
Mitel VOIP service
Provider name | Product name | Least expensive | Most expensive | No. packages |
Mitel | Business VoIP | £13.59 | £23.79 | 3 |
Free trial | Minimum contract | Annual payment discount % | Local numbers | Non-geo numbers |
No | 12 months | No | No | No |
Mitel provides a comprehensive range of VOIP services to SMEs as well as to some of the world’s largest companies including Western Manual Insurance Group, Geo Foundation, Diamond Assets, Netflix, Rewards Network, and Smile Doctors.
Their Essentials package started at £13.59 user a month including standard PBX features, collaboration, and conferencing services. Their Premier package, at £17.84 per user per month, adds call recording and CRM integration. The top Elite package, at £23.79 per user per month, offers operator assistance and archiving.
Click for more information – Mitel VOIP service.
NFON VOIP service
Provider name | Product name | Least expensive | Most expensive | No. packages |
NFON | CloudYa | Pay as you go | Pay as you go | 1 |
Free trial | Minimum contract | Annual payment discount % | Local numbers | Non-geo numbers |
30 days | 30 days rolling | No | Yes | Yes |
NFON wants to be different – it has “one price with no hidden extras”. It’s a pay-as-you-go service – you only pay for active extensions and there are no long-term contracts. Users can downgrade and upgrade their features as and when they need to.
The NFON service delivers high-voice quality across the 9 different devises it can accommodate per extension. Users are also provided with an app suite allowing them to access VOIP features via their mobile device.
Click for more information – NFON VOIP service.
Ooma VOIP service
Provider name | Product name | Least expensive | Most expensive | No. packages |
Ooma | Office | $19.95 | $24.95 | 2 |
Free trial | Minimum contract | Annual payment discount % | Local numbers | Non-geo numbers |
No | Ask for quote | No | No | No |
Ooma, another of the major international VoIP providers on our list, won the PC Mag award for the best office phone system for small businesses for a sixth year in a row lately.
The Ooma Office package at $19.95 offers a wide range of features with the Ooma Office Pro $24.95 service providing higher usage limits for audio conferences, call parking, and extension monitoring. Office Pro clients also benefit from voicemail transcription, overhead paging, enhanced call blocking, and call recording.
Click for more information – Ooma VOIP service.
RingCentral VOIP service
Provider name | Product name | Least expensive | Most expensive | No. packages |
RingCentral | Office | £7.99 | £24.99 | 4 |
Free trial | Minimum contract | Annual payment discount % | Local numbers | Non-geo numbers |
Yes – Ask for quote | 24 months | 38% | Yes | Yes |
RingCentral offers four VOIP packages for clients with a minimum 24 month contractual period:
- entry from ₤7.99 monthly per user
- standard from ₤14.99 monthly per user
- premium from ₤19.99 monthly per user
- ultimate from ₤24.99 monthly per user
You also have the option to pay annually and save 38%. Integration is also offered with the following platforms – Desk, Google, Okta, Salesforce, Zendesk, Box, Archiver, Microsoft, Oracle, and ServiceNow.
Click for more information – RingCentral VOIP service.
Sipgate VOIP service
Provider name | Product name | Least expensive | Most expensive | No. packages |
Sipgate | Team | £9.95 | £19.95 | 9 |
Free trial | Minimum contract | Annual payment discount % | Local numbers | Non-geo numbers |
30 days | No notice required | No | Yes | Yes |
Launched in Germany in 2004 and offering a 30 days rolling contract with a 30 day trial period, Sipgate offers around the clock monitoring and customer services support to all of its clients. Sipgate believe that IP telephony is the future of communications and they have spent the last 16 years continually improving the technology to make it a reliable and tested form of internal and external connection for businesses.
Click for more information – Sipgate VOIP service.
SoConnect VOIP service
Provider name | Product name | Least expensive | Most expensive | No. packages |
SoConnect | Hosted VoIP | £8.95 | £14.95 | 2 |
Free trial | Minimum contract | Annual payment discount % | Local numbers | Non-geo numbers |
30 days | No notice required | No | Yes | Yes |
SoConnect’s founding team of technology and communications experts had over 50 years’ experience between them when they launched the company. Their vision is to achieve significant savings for business customers on lines and call charges while offering those customers enhanced commercial productivity opportunities through additional system functionality.
They use to offer a minimum contract to clients of between 3 months and 6 months with a 30 day free trial – now it’s a simple monthly rolling contract. And their per person monthly charges at £8.95 and £14.95 are among the most competitive on the market.
The list of features on both tariffs are comprehensive with clients paying £14.95 a month also benefiting from video calling, HD video capability for conference calls and virtual meetings, activity feed, team availability indicator, Microsoft app integration, and collaborative working.
Click for more information – SoConnect VOIP service.
SureVoIP VOIP service
Provider name | Product name | Least expensive | Most expensive | No. packages |
SureVoIP | Hosted VoIP | £5.00 | £20.00 | 3 |
Free trial | Minimum contract | Annual payment discount % | Local numbers | Non-geo numbers |
14 days | 3 months | No | Yes | Yes |
SureVoIP is among the companies in our article offering low monthly charges (the £5 is available for sole traders), a generous free trial, and a short minimum contract period of just three months.
Click for more information – SureVoIP VOIP service.
Telappliant VOIP service
Provider name | Product name | Least expensive | Most expensive | No. packages |
Telappliant | VoIP Office Starter | £4.99 | £4.99 | 1 |
Free trial | Minimum contract | Annual payment discount % | Local numbers | Non-geo numbers |
30 days | Bespoke | No | Yes | Yes |
The VoIPOffice suite of products offers clients the functionality and the flexibility that they’d expect from a fully-integrated private branch exchange but without the upfront cost and the software restrictions.
There are four tariffs available for subscriber companies:
- VoIPOffice starter for up to 20 users – £4.99 per user per month
- VoIPOffice plus for 20 to 50 users – £11.99 per user per month
- VoIPOffice premium for 50 to 250 users – £17.99 per user per month
- VoIPOffice enterprise for 250 to 1000 users – apply for a quote
Telappliant offers a 30-day free trial. Each tier of service includes number porting, and advanced functionality, Communicator (the free edition), conference calling, incoming numbers, Mon-Fri UK phone support, SIP trunking, virtual receptionist, and VoIPOffice communicator.
Other standard features include:
- intra-site calls – free calls between users across multiple sites.
- calling presentation number – choose the number you want to be displayed on call receipients’ devices
- inbound announcements – music and marketing message on hold
- virtual receptionists divert calls to departments, or individuals with no human needed
- inbound call escalation – don’t miss a call even when the department or team required in on a call
- home working & hot desking – ‘follow me’ functionality (use it to pass calls to a secretary if required)
- user control panel – allow your staff to route their own calls
- when the phone is busy – callers can choose ‘call back’ to be alerted to when the person they want to speak to is no longer on the phone. Alternatively, a caller could leave a voicemail instead.
- on-screen directory – see when a colleague is available making it easier to contact them or transfer a call to them.
Click for more information – Telappliant VOIP service.
Teliqo VOIP service
Provider name | Product name | Least expensive | Most expensive | No. packages |
Teliqo | Direct | Bespoke | Bespoke | Bespoke |
Free trial | Minimum contract | Annual payment discount % | Local numbers | Non-geo numbers |
Yes | Bespoke | No | Yes | Yes |
Teliqo’s approach to putting together a package for each business they work with is to understand what an individual company needs to both save money on their current communications package and to provide them with additional functionality to improve their internal efficiency.
Click for more information – Teliqo VOIP service.
Virgin Media Business VOIP service
Provider name | Product name | Least expensive | Most expensive | No. packages |
Virgin Media | VOIP | Bespoke | Bespoke | Bespoke |
Free trial | Minimum contract | Annual payment discount % | Local numbers | Non-geo numbers |
Ask for quote | Ask for quote | Ask for quote | Ask for quote | Ask for quote |
Virgin Media Business is one of the UK’s leading telephony, broadband, and VOIP providers to businesses. As the owner of the country’s largest, fastest, and most reliable fibre data networks, you may wish to consider Virgin as a potential provider if you have concerns about the ability of standard broadband lines to handle standard internet traffic from your company as well additional traffic used by VOIP.
Click for more information – Virgin Media Business VOIP service.
VoIP Studio VOIP service
Provider name | Product name | Least expensive | Most expensive | No. packages |
VoIP Studio | Call Center | £3.99 | £13.99 | 2 |
Free trial | Minimum contract | Annual payment discount % | Local numbers | Non-geo numbers |
30 days | 30 days rolling | No | Yes | Yes |
VoIP Studio is available on over 70 different countries and, at £3.99, offers one of the most competitive basic VOIP packages in the UK. Each of their three tariffs offers advanced PBX functions and CRM integration among a long list of inclusive features. The more expensive monthly per user packages also include 2,000 minute per month per user to the UK or to overseas destinations.
Click for more information – VoIP Studio VOIP service.
Voipfone VOIP service
Provider name | Product name | Least expensive | Most expensive | No. packages |
Voipfone | Office | £2.00 | £20.00 | 2 |
Free trial | Minimum contract | Annual payment discount % | Local numbers | Non-geo numbers |
1 month of services (5 minutes of calls) | 12 months on £20 contract – zero on PAGE | No | Yes (on premium tariff) | Yes |
Voipfone’s VOIP service is one of the most flexible and most competitively-priced on the market. They offer 5 minutes’ worth of free calls to potential customers to test their service and, if a client does sign up for their PAYG service, there is no minimum contract.
They live and die by their technology – the company is operated remotely by its directors and its staff members using the exact same technology they sell to their customers. They state that they understand just how important having a reliable system is to your business because they rely on it just as much. Their uptime since 2007 has been 99.99%.
Their Voipfone Unlimited tariff at £20 per user with a 01, 02, 03 phone number. There are unlimited calls included to UK mobile and UK landlines and a full suite of PBX features including IVR, groups, call queues, extensions and more. There is a minimum 12 month contract
Click for more information – Voipfone VOIP service.
Vonage VOIP service
Provider name | Product name | Least expensive | Most expensive | No. packages |
Vonage | Business VoIP | £9.00 | £14.50 | 3 |
Free trial | Minimum contract | Annual payment discount % | Local numbers | Non-geo numbers |
No | 30 days rolling | No | Yes | Yes |
Vonage is one of the world’s largest new technology communications companies whose growth has been accelerated around the world by its minimal contract commitments and its pricing structure.
Its current UK tariffs range from £9 a month to £16 a month:
- Select at £9.00 per month per user
- includes call transfer, call forwarding, a desktop app, a mobile app, and conferencing via Amazon Chime
- Professional at £12.00 per month per user
- as Select but also including unlimited calls to UK landlines, on-demand call recording, call groups, virtual receptionists, call queues, and call monitoring
- Ultimate at £16.00 per month per user
- as Professional but also including unlimited UK mobile calls, an integration suite and company-wide call recording
On the Professional and Ultimate tariffs, you can add the “World Option” offering unlimited calls to landlines and mobiles in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bermuda, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Guam, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Italy, Malta, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, United States, US Virgin Islands, and Vatican City.
Unlimited landline only calls are also offered as part of the “World Option” package to another 30 countries.
Click for more information – Vonage VOIP service.
Zendesk VOIP service
Provider name | Product name | Least expensive | Most expensive | No. packages |
Zendesk | Everyone | £39.00 | £175.00 | 5 |
Free trial | Minimum contract | Annual payment discount % | Local numbers | Non-geo numbers |
Yes | Ask for quote | No | Yes | Yes |
With a range of services supporting start-ups, small-to-medium-sized enterprises, and larger businesses, Zendesk has established itself in the last decade as one of the world’s largest providers of internet-based voice and data communications services.
Packages start from £39 a month rising to £175 for the full service making theirs the most expensive monthly tariffs on the market. Zendesk has a number of specialist departments supporting customers in the following sectors – financial services, government, healthcare, manufacturing, media, retail, telecommunications, and software.
Click for more information – Zendesk VOIP service.
VOIP security tips
Cybersecurity is something which all companies need to be aware of and to plan for. In the UK, the National Cyber Security Centre promotes the benefits of businesses protecting themselves against online threats.
Try to follow the four tips below to keep your company’s data safe and maintain its commercial confidentiality.
Stay up to date
When software and hardware manufacturers find problems with their products, they issue security updates you can download which fix them. VOIP suppliers are no different.
It’s a lot easier to stop a problem from happening in the first place rather than it fixing it after the event. Stay informed on how to keep your VOIP hardware and software up-to-date by reading how to do this based in the manufacturer’s instructions. Be vigilant and check often.
If cyberattackers do get in, what might they do? You might incur significant costs by getting your connected devices to ring premium rate phone numbers which the criminals own.
Remember that, because VOIP relies on your internet connection which itself is also connected to your company’s computer system, cybercriminals may be able to cause further damage by exploiting any weakness in your firm’s IT defences.
Be pro-actively secure
If you’re not using a dedicated VoIP handset for your VoIP calls, it’s more than likely you’ll be using either your laptop or desktop in with headphones and a microphone.
You should consider installing (or activating any inbuilt) firewall and antivirus programs. Firewalls make sure your computer closes as many points of possible interference from cybercriminals. The benefit of this is if a hacker cannot communicate with your hardware or manipulate your computer’s security settings, they cannot take it over.
Anti-virus programs recognize viruses before they do any damage. If a virus takes hold, it opens up your computer so that hackers can control it.
Firewalls and anti-virus programs are both are essential for all businesses handling customer data and other sensitive data so please do use them anyway.
Use strong passwords
Any password consisting of just letters and numbers and with fewer than 8 characters can be cracked in a week or two by hardware you can buy right now for £500.
A good analogy to bear in mind is to think of your password as your house keys. Be as vigilant with your passwords as you are with your house keys.
Password managers are very effective and they let you keep all your various passwords in a virtual safe on your computer. As long as your password to this is kept secure at all times and is impossible to guess, then you can have significantly enhanced business security without having to remember 100’s of passwords.
Set alerts and limits on your VoIP usage
Nearly all VoIP companies will allow you to set daily caps on your company’s call spend. This can be by restricting the maximum length, cost, or type (no premium rate) of each individual call.
Setting alerts and limits is a good idea from a budgetary point of view as well as a security one. You can programme a VOIP system to send texts which alert you to any unusual activity such as calling overseas numbers or incorrect password attempts.
VOIP frequently asked questions
Can I port my existing number across to my VOIP system?
In most cases, you will be able to port your number (or range of numbers) from your existing provider to your VOIP supplier.
Does this mean that I won’t pay line rental to my current supplier?
If your business is supplied with broadband via a standard telephone line (either via BT or a provider using BT Openreach), you will continue to pay line rental on the line or lines which supply you with broadband.
If you have a fibre connection or a type of connection which does not rely on a standard BT telephone line, you will continue to pay your broadband provider for access to the internet.
How fast should my company’s broadband connection be?
VoIP needs to work in “real time” and only a wired broadband connection into your premises offers this. You should pass up any offers you receive on town or city-based WiFi or satellite broadband.
ADSL is “regular broadband.” One feature of regular broadband is that it has a “contention ratio” – this number describes how many others you share the broadband with. If it’s a 10:1 ratio, it’s you and nine others. If’s it 100:1, it’s you and ninety-nine others.
Most of the time, contention ratio makes little or no difference to general company internet usage or VOIP usage. But, if lots of people start streaming video or downloading large files, it will have an effect on your VoIP call.
SDSL, cable and fibre connections don’t have this problem. They are more expensive though and these options are not available yet in all parts of the UK.
If ADSL is your only choice, you need to ask your potential provider whether they offer “traffic prioritisation,” sometimes known as QoS (“quality of service”). This means that, if their systems detect that you’re making a VoIP call, it will give the call priority over all other data traffic on the line.
Some business telecom companies offer broadband packages with speeds of up to 500MB a second or more. A connection of this speed means that you could make 50,000 VoIP calls simultaneously. VoIP doesn’t need this type of speed.
A 1MB a second line will do just fine for nearly all businesses and it’s important to make sure that you only pay for what you need. Given most modern business internet speeds, you should not have to upgrade your broadband connection unless you already throttle it with general data traffic.
What are broadband provider hotspots?
“Hotspots” are wireless connections offered by broadband providers available in larger UK cities and towns. Some providers give you a free subscription allowing you to connect to these hotspots as part of their monthly subscription charges. If you want to be able to make Wi-Fi VoIP calls when you’re out of the office and in a hotspot, this could be an important advantage in allowing you to conduct business wherever you are.
Your broadband provider chooses the equipment which is compatible with their hotspots. Make sure your VoIP service and any equipment provided are compatible with them if this is important to you – a call to your potential VoIP provider will answer all these questions.
Choosing the best VOIP provider for your business
As with all purchasing for your business, you should:
- be clear about what it is that you want your VOIP system to do for you,
- canvass a number of different suppliers for quotes, and then
- perform due diligence on the suppliers most likely to win your custom.
VOIP delivers significant financial advantages to your business as well as providing your departmental managers with the information they need on improving customer service, identifying missed sales opportunities, and increasing operational efficiency.
Let us find 3-4 quotes from leading suppliers for you to provide you with a system capable of delivering all of those advantages – simply leave your details in the form at the top of the page and click the “send” button. There is no charge to our service and you are under no obligation to accept a quote from a supplier we recommend to you.